The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-02
Alcohol is Our Worst Enemy.

meulcal OPINION anu pTaCtlce growing
out of careful scientific observation of
the effects of articles OF diet in health
and disease. allude to the. present as
pect of professional judgment on the al
cohol question. Ibclieve I lam speaking
within bounds when say that the ma
jority of thoughtful physicians who have
studied carefully the effects of what is
regarded as the moderate as we'll as the
immoderate use of alcoholic beverages
are persuaded that as foods, excepting
POSSIBLY in the fcbrile state, their value
has been largely overestimated, and that
in the norma! condition of the
body they are not only quite un-
necessary to the maintenance of healthy
nutrition, but are always more or
less baneful in their effects. That they
add, as Matthew Arnold has said, to the
agreeablcness of life, that their use is
universal, that through their stimulating
influence upon the nervous centres they
have been potent factors in the progress
o. civilization, and that they are of ines
Unable value as stimulants and anasthet-
les, are considerations entirely apart
from the facts concerning them which
are especially interesting, namely, their
effects upon nutrition; that thc:e are
harmful and dcteriorating to such de-
gree as to constitute the most powerful
cause of physical degeneration at the
day, there can, think, be no question
The drift of professional opinion in this
country and in Europe is surely tending
toward the restriction of their use as ar
ticles of diet, and simply for the reason
that they are the determining cause of
many functional arrangements and
structural degenerations.
A Killing Pace.
Moderate drinkers engaged in pursuits
calling for judgment and accumen, and
who use liquors during business hours,
end, with scarcely an exception, as fnan-
cial wrecks, however successful they
may be in withstanding the physical
consequences of their indulgence. Thou
sands who retain their health and are
never ranked as victims OF intemper-
ance lose their property, wreck their
business, and are thrown into bankruptcy
because of tippling habits during busi-
ness hours. Liquor acts on the brain in
the same manner as chloroform or ether,
producing stimulation which affects
cool thought, followed by depression
corresponding to the amount of the dose.
Moderate drinkers who attempt to do
business with even slightly excited
brains are the men who are all the time
making losses and going to the wall. It
is to the thousands of moderate drinkers
who are never seen intoxicated or over
come with liquor that our remarks
especially apply. These men decline to
become teetotalcrs, but they can easily
adopt habit of total abstinence during
business hours. If they do not possess
enough power of sclf-denial to keep from
tippling during business hours, the
sooner they retire from business the bet
ter for them, for they are on the sure
road to defeat. Chicaoo Tribune.
The Lesson OF the Railway.
The great railroad corporations of the
country have all placed temperance
plank in their commercial platform, as
far as their road employees are concerned.
When steam was first used for locomo-
tion the loss of life and property occa-
stoned by the drinking habits of train
men far exceeded that from all other
causes combined. AS the business of
the railway grew the necessity for sober
men became greater. At first, forbid
ding drunkenness while on duty was
deemed sufficient restriction. This
half way measure was not sufficient, for
some day tippling engineer or switch
man would commit an excess and fresh
disaster would be added to the already
long list. Gradually, but surely, the
companies have been forced into adopt
ing the only really effective method to
protect their patrons and property, and
total abstinence is now an invariable
rule on every line Of importance. All
the great systems running out OF
New York, and those Of the West and
South, have adopted purely prohibitory
policy for the men Immediately employed
in running their trains. For one of them
to be known to indulge in single glass
of anything that will intoxicate brings
prompt dismissal, with little chance of
unemployment. 1t cost vast sum IN
loss of rolling-stock, damages to crippled
passengers, to say nothing OF the death
roll, before these great carrier concerns
solved the drink problem as it affected
their business. They have learned now
that it pays to have sober men in charge
OF their engines, at the bell-rope, and in
the signal tower. There is not the
slightest possibility of the total absti-
ncncc rule being relaxed, for in it alone
is their absolute safety from accidents